Despite a life-changing moment when he was knocked out of football on Nov. 29, 1992, in a collision with teammate Scott Mersereau that broke his C-5 vertebra and initially left him paralyzed from the waist down, Byrd today is an avid jogger and personally tends to his land.

But he also relives that moment when his life changed and he was knocked out of the game he loved in his fourth season. Even in Oklahoma, he hears about it often.
Byrd has recently come to embrace his place in team history, though.

In 2011, before the Jets played the Patriots in the AFC divisional playoff game, he sent coach Rex Ryan the No. 90 jersey that was cut off his back that November day, reconnecting with the organization for the first time in years.

Now, he is prepared to have the number retired at halftime of the Dolphins game at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Byrd said he was excited for the chance to visit the Meadowlands again. (He made a speech at Giants Stadium during the Jets’ 1993 season-opener when the Dennis Byrd Award for most inspirational player was established.)

“It’s just a tremendous honor to be recognized by the Jets, to have that number retired meant a lot to me as a player and means a great deal to me now for someone who’s been retired for 20 years,” Byrd said. “It’s been an honor the way it’s been done. I’m very excited for the weekend and I look forward to coming back to New York.”

• Two days removed from a costly dropped pass in the fourth quarter of the Jets’ overtime loss to the New England Patriots, WR Stephen Hill has already moved on.
The play came on third-and-4 with just over two minutes remaining.

Quarterback Mark Sanchez hit him with what looked to be a first down pass and maybe more.

Instead, the Jets settled for a field goal to end the drive.

“Yeah, that’s definitely in the (past),” Hill said yesterday in Newark, where 12 Jets rookies participated in putting the final touches on an outdoor fitness area. “Once I saw the film it’s, okay, time to move on. Can’t deal with it.”

• LB Demario Davis played on 69 of 78 defensive snaps Sunday in New England, a career high for the rookie linebacker after he played in just 40 defensive snaps the prior two weeks.

Davis also had seven tackles — also a personal best. He said that he feels comfortable in the Jets’ system.

“I just want to contribute the best way possible,” he said. “It’s all about us getting the win at the end of the day ... I think we played pretty well defensively the last game but we can be a lot better as we saw when we looked at the film and that’s what we’ll try to do when we look at the film.”

• The Jets worked out tight ends Joey Haynos and Colin Cochart Tuesday, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. Those people requested anonymity because the Jets do not make workouts public. Neither player will be signed, the people said.